Wed. 9/30 PSAT Meeting

Things They Carried paper and AP Packet #1 due next Tuesday Oct. 6

AP paper #1 Things They Carried

3-5 page paper, 12 pt. Time font, MLA citation and style, Due Oct. 6

How would one read O'Brien's The Things They Carried "literarily" versus "literally"? Using examples from your readings of the text, discuss the rhetorical devices O'Brien uses to tell "story truth" versus "happening truth"--or how he proceeds to tell "a noble lie." Be sure to use MLA citation for this paper.

1. Reading literally differs from reading literarily in several ways, including your relationship to the "truth" of the text, as well as its meaning.

2. When you read literally, you are trying to find meaning; when you read literarily, you are attempting to make meaning.

3. Literary texts provide various signals that invite us to read them literarily; they open themselves to multiple interpretations.

4. Good literary questions call attention to problematic details of the texts under analysis and encourage readers to return to the texts to reconsider those problems.

5. Such formal features as plot, setting, character, point of view, and theme provide you with opportunities to ask specific questions that will help you analyze a short story.

Things They Carried

View video of Tim O'Brien

Tomorrow: Full class discussion about The Things They Carried

More quizzes on gradesaver.com/the-things-they-carried/study-guide/


The Things They Carried Quiz 1

1. Which war is the subject of this book?

a) The Korean War
b) The First Gulf War
c) World War II
d) Vietnam

2. Who is the narrator of The Things They Carried?

a) Lieutenant Cross
b) Michael Herr
c) Kiowa
d) Tim O'Brien

3. The book is best described as

a) a collection of short stories
b) a novel
c) a memoir
d) a series of stories

4. The author's own term for the book's structure is

a) memoir
b) war fiction
c) novel
d) meta-fiction

5. The book is set in all of the following places except

a) Minnesota
b) Vietnam
c) Massachusetts
d) Canada

6. What does Jimmy Cross treasure most?

a. his gun
b. his slingshot
c. his bible
d. letters from a girl

7. Martha is

a. a nurse
b. an actress
c. a soldier
d. a student






8. In "The Things They Carried" why does Jimmy Cross feel guilty?

a. he doesn't miss Martha
b. he killed a Vietnamese boy
c. he let one of his men die
d. he cheated on Martha

a) 9. What was Ted Lavender doing when he died?

a. peeing
b. walking
c. hunting
d. scouting

10. According to Kiowa, what was the most remarkable thing about his death?

a. how little he was carrying
b. how slow it was
c. its speed and gravity
d. that he killed his killer, too


11. When Jimmy Cross visits the narrator in "Love," he says that he and Martha

a. never saw one another again
b. are married
c. met again but went their separate ways
d. are in love and are engaged

12. What did Martha give Jimmy Cross, twice?

a. a pebble
b. a picture of her playing sports
c. letters
d. a kiss

13. When he is still in love with Martha, Jimmy Cross is obsessed with her

a. poetry
b. virginity
c. university
d. knees

14. Where is "Love" set?

a. Vietnam
b. Cambodia
c. Massachusetts
d. Japan

15. In "Love," what does Cross ask O'Brien to do?

a. burn Kiowa's body
b. burn photographs of Martha
c. write about his love for Martha
d. write about him as if he was a hero

16. Who is Linda?

a. O'Brien's childhood sweetheart
b. the sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong
c. Jimmy Cross's sweetheart
d. a Japanese nurse

17. What did Linda die of?

a. consumption
b. a heart attack
c. she was shot in Vietnam
d. a brain tumor

18. All of the following are stories in the collection except

a. "How to Kill a Viet Cong"
b. "The Man I Killed"
c. "How to Tell a True War Story"
d. "Notes"

19. O'Brien felt all of the following while at war except

a. fear
b. boredom
c. shame
d. pride

20. In many of the stories, O'Brien is how old?

a. 16
b. 40
c. 43
d. 55


21. Where is he when O'Brien decides to go to Vietnam?

a) at home
b) at the meatpacking factory
c) in a boat on a river
d) in the car in Minnesota

22. Who does O'Brien say saved his life?

a) his father
b) Sam Smith, canadian
c) Elroy Berdahl, lodge owner
d) Tim O'Brien

23. What had O'Brien planned to do after college?

a) go to Canada
b) go to Yale
c) go to Harvard
d) go to Vietnam


24. Why is Lee Strunk afraid of Dave Jensen in "Friends"?

a) He is afraid he will maim him.
b) He is afraid he will kill him.
c) He's afraid his friend will steal his girlfriend.
d) He's afraid that he hurt his feelings.

25. What is the macho Curt Lemon afraid of?

a) the dentist
b) Mary Anne
c) the enemy
d) O'Brien

Agenda Thurs 9/24

Discuss readings of The Things They Carried

Please post your thoughts and comment on the following:
What story so far in The Things They Carried has affected you most? O'Brien has stated that his stories are meant to convey "a noble lie." What do you feel is his noble lie? In what way is "story truth" more real than "happening truth?"

Friday AP Terms Quiz Links to Examples

Here are the new words for Friday's quiz:
Know logos, pathos, ethos

Click the words for examples of these AP terms. For a definition, see your AP packet.

• caricature
• clause
• colloquial/colloqualism
• conceit
• connotation
• denotation
• diction
• didactic
• euphemism
• extended metaphor

Things They Carried 3 Questions 3 Observations

Friday,

Post your 3 questions and 3 observations as comments here for the class.

The Things They Carried Essay Discussion questions

Suggested Essay Topics

1. “The Man I Killed” is the only story that focuses primarily on a Vietnamese character. Why does this shift in focus occur in this particular story? Why are Vietnamese characters largely absent from the rest of the text?

2. Although the work is supposedly about the Vietnam war, the final story focuses not on the war but on an episode from O’Brien’s childhood. Discuss how this story relates to the stories of the war. What is O’Brien’s purpose in ending his collection of stories this way?

3. What do the terms “story-truth” and “happening-truth” mean in the context of the book? How do they differ?

4. Although The Things They Carried contains a story called “The Man I Killed,” it is unclear whether O’Brien actually killed anyone in Vietnam. What purpose does this ambiguity serve?

5. How does shame fit into O’Brien’s portrayal of the war experience?

6. Discuss the structure of the work. Do the stories progress in a linear manner? How does the work’s fragmented style contribute to the themes that run through the stories?

Reading Schedule Things They Carried

Read for:

Fri. 9/18 "On the Rainy River"

Mon. 9/21 to page 116 "Stocking"

Wed. 9/23 to page 180 "Field Trip"

Fri. 9/25 Finish book

Check out Vietnam War links and videos on blog page

Agenda Week of 9/14 Things They Carried

Monday and Tuesday--Write critical lens from Summer reading


Wednesday, 9/16

View part of O'Brien video

Discuss "The Things They Carried"

"What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty. As a machine gunner, Henry Dobbins carried the M-60, which weighed 23 pounds unloaded, but which was almost always loaded. He also carried between 10 and 15 pounds of ammunition draped in belts across his chest and shoulders."

"The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among them were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellant, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, and two or three canteens of water."

"They carried the land itself--Vietnam, the place, the soil-powdery-orange-red dust that covered their boots and fatiques and faces. They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity."

"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intanigbles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specifc gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide...They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing."

* Briefly discuss the differences between "literal" things that the soldiers carried and "figurative" things. What are some "literal" and "figurative" things that the students carry with them every day to school? Monday and Tuesday--Write critical lens from Summer reading


Wednesday, 9/16

View part of O'Brien video

Discuss "The Things They Carried"

"What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty. As a machine gunner, Henry Dobbins carried the M-60, which weighed 23 pounds unloaded, but which was almost always loaded. He also carried between 10 and 15 pounds of ammunition draped in belts across his chest and shoulders."

"The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among them were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellant, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, and two or three canteens of water."

"They carried the land itself--Vietnam, the place, the soil-powdery-orange-red dust that covered their boots and fatiques and faces. They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity."

"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intanigbles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specifc gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide...They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing."

* Briefly discuss the differences between "literal" things that the soldiers carried and "figurative" things. What are some "literal" and "figurative" things that the students carry with them every day to school?

Agenda Wed and Thurs. Sept. 9. 10

1, Review "A" words for quiz on Friday

2. Also know ANAPHORA, LOGOS, PATHOS, ETHOS

3. Discuss President Obama's speech to students

4. Thurs. P/U The Things They Carried

5. Break into discussion groups for summer readings:

The Time Traveler's Wife
The Color of Water
The Bell Jar
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Agenda Tues. Sept. 8

Elements of Style quiz

www.docstyles.com/write.htm


Read "Ambush"

"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice.... Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to."

A finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Things They Carried marks a subtle but definitive line of demarcation between Tim O'Brien's earlier works about Vietnam, the memoir If I Die in a Combat Zone and the fictional Going After Cacciato, and this sly, almost hallucinatory book that is neither memoir nor novel nor collection of short stories but rather an artful combination of all three. Vietnam is still O'Brien's theme, but in this book he seems less interested in the war itself than in the myriad different perspectives from which he depicts it. Whereas Going After Cacciato played with reality, The Things They Carried plays with truth. The narrator of most of these stories is "Tim"; yet O'Brien freely admits that many of the events he chronicles in this collection never really happened. He never killed a man as "Tim" does in "The Man I Killed," and unlike Tim in "Ambush," he has no daughter named Kathleen. But just because a thing never happened doesn't make it any less true. In "On the Rainy River," the character Tim O'Brien responds to his draft notice by driving north, to the Canadian border where he spends six days in a deserted lodge in the company of an old man named Elroy while he wrestles with the choice between dodging the draft or going to war. The real Tim O'Brien never drove north, never found himself in a fishing boat 20 yards off the Canadian shore with a decision to make. The real Tim O'Brien quietly boarded the bus to Sioux Falls and was inducted into the United States Army. But the truth of "On the Rainy River" lies not in facts but in the genuineness of the experience it depicts: both Tims went to a war they didn't believe in; both considered themselves cowards for doing so. Every story in The Things They Carried speaks another truth that Tim O'Brien learned in Vietnam; it is this blurred line between truth and reality, fact and fiction, that makes his book unforgettable. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Discussion questions

* Why does the narrator lie to his daughter, and how does he justify it? Do you think she will ask him the same question when she's older? Why/Why not?
* The narrator "keep[s] writing war stories." What does he expect the writing to do? Do you think it is working?
* Why doesn't the narrator let the soldier pass? How do you think you would have reacted in a similar situation?
* Why do you think the narrator focuses on the gory details of the soldier's death?
* Kiowa tells the narrator that it was a "good kill." What does this phrase mean in its military context? Do you agree or disagree with Kiowa's interpretation? Why/Why not?
* How do individuals justify killing during wartime when they would not kill during times of peace? What does this tell you about humans' tendencies toward self-preservation?
* What steps could the narrator take to end his own torment about killing the man? How can we come to grips with the guilt we feel over some of our actions?

HW: Read transcript of President Obama's speech to students. We will discuss his writing strategies.

Scoring AP essays

Scoring Your AP English Language and Composition Essays
Adapted from: English Language and Composition, 3rd Edition

Each of the three AP English Language and Composition essays equals one-third of the total essay score, and the entire essay (free-response) section equals 55% of the total exam score.

Each essay is read by experienced, well-trained high school AP teachers or college professors. The essay is given a holistic score from 1 to 9. (A score of 0 is recorded for a student who writes completely off the topic-for example, "Why I think this test is a waste of money." A student who doesn't even attempt an essay, who leaves a blank page, will receive the equivalent of a 0 score, but it is noted as a dash [-] on the reader's scoring sheet.) The reader assigns a score based on the essay's merits as a whole, on what the essay does well; the readers don't simply count errors. Although each essay topic has its own scoring rubric (or guide) based on that topic's specific information, a general scoring guide for rhetorical analysis and argumentation essays follows. Notice that, on the whole, essay-scoring guides encompass four essential points; AP readers want your essay to be (1) on topic, (2) well organized, (3) thoroughly developed, and (4) correct in mechanics and sophisticated in style.
High Score (8-9)

High-scoring essays thoroughly address all the tasks of the essay prompt in well-organized responses. The writing demonstrates stylistic sophistication and control over the elements of effective writing, although it is not necessarily faultless. Overall, high-scoring essays present thoroughly developed, intelligent ideas; sound and logical organization; strong evidence; and articulate diction.

*

Rhetorical analysis essays demonstrate significant understanding of the passage, its intent, and the rhetorical strategies the author employs.
*

Argument essays demonstrate the ability to construct a compelling argument, observing the author's underlying assumptions, (addressing multiple authors in the synthesis essay) and discussing many sides of the issues with appropriate evidence.

Medium-High Score (6-7)

Medium-scoring essays complete the tasks of the essay topic well - they show some insight but usually with less precision and clarity than high-scoring essays. There may be lapses in correct diction or sophisticated language, but the essay is generally well written.

*

Rhetorical analysis essays demonstrate sufficient examination of the author's point and the rhetorical strategies he uses to enhance the central idea.
*

Argument essays demonstrate the ability to construct an adequate argument, understand the author's point, and discuss its implications with suitable evidence. The synthesis argument will address at least three of the sources.

Medium Score (5)

Essays that earn a medium score complete the essay task, but with no special insights; the analysis lacks depth and merely states the obvious. Frequently, the ideas are predictable and the paragraph development weak. Although the writing conveys the writer's ideas, they are presented simplistically and often contain lapses in diction or syntax.

*

Rhetorical analysis essays demonstrate uneven or insufficient understanding of how rhetorical strategies create an author's point. Often, the writer merely lists what he or she observes in the passage instead of analyzing effect.
*

Argument essays demonstrate the ability to present an argument, but they frequently provide limited and inadequate discussion, explanation, or evidence for the writer's ideas. The writer may not address enough of the sources in the synthesis essay. Oversimplification of the issue(s) minimizes the essay's effectiveness.

Medium-Low Score (3-4)

These essays are weaker than the 5 score because the writer overlooks or perhaps misreads important ideas in the passage. The student may summarize the passage's ideas instead of analyzing them. Although the writer's ideas are generally understandable, the control of language is often immature.

*

Rhetorical analysis essays demonstrate little discussion of rhetorical strategies or incorrect identification and/or analysis of those strategies.
*

Argument essays demonstrate little ability to construct an argument. They may not clearly identify the author's point, may not present multiple authors' points of view in the synthesis essay, and may offer little evidence for the student's position.

Low Score (1-2)

These essays demonstrate minimal understanding of the topic or the passage. Perhaps unfinished, these essays offer no analysis of the passage and little or no evidence for the student's ideas. Incorrect assertions may be made about the passage. Stylistically, these essays may show consistent grammatical problems, and sentence structure is usually simple and unimaginative.

*

Rhetorical analysis essays demonstrate little ability to identify or analyze rhetorical strategies. Sometimes these essays misread the prompt and replace it with easier tasks, such as paraphrasing the passage or listing some strategies the author uses.
*

Argument essays demonstrate little ability to understand the author's point (or multiple authors in the synthesis essay) and then construct an argument that analyzes it. Minimal or nonexistent evidence hurts the essay's effectiveness. Some students may substitute an easier task by presenting tangential or irrelevant ideas, evidence, or explanation.

Agenda Week of Sept. 2-4

Discuss AP Essay grading scale and criteria.

Share essays and peer edit in groups of 4. Establish rubric and categories of overall PURPOSE/main idea (MEANING), handling of prompt, organization and development, sentence structure (SYNTAX), use of language (DICTION), grammar and usage.

Handout: AP Resource packet

Assignment: Go over AP terms --first ten words "the A list" for quiz next Friday

First novel: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien